Alstom Commissions the Electrification and Rail Control Systems for Mexico City’s Mew Metro Line 12

Alstom has successfully completed the turnkey design, installation and commissioning of the complete electrification and rail control systems for Mexico City’s new metro line 12. These systems include the CBTC automatic train control, signaling, centralized control, passenger information, telecommunications, power distribution and catenary. The new line was inaugurated on Tuesday October 30 in the presence of the President of the Mexican Republic Felipe Calderón, the Mayor of Mexico City Marcelo Ebrard and the Senior Vice President of Alstom Transport Latin America Henri Bussery.

Metro Line 12 is 25 km-long and serves 20 stations. Expected to carry up to 450,000 passengers per day, this line becomes one of the most important ones of the country. To optimize the line’s efficiency in total safety, Alstom has installed its radio-based Urbalis CBTC. Urbalis enables automatic train operation and allows trains to run at shorter intervals in complete safety. This is the first CBTC system to be commissioned in Mexico and the 25th Urbalis-equipped metro line to be put in service worldwide since its launch in 2003 with the trend-starting driverless Singapore North-East Line.

“The line 12 metro project was a successful collaboration between the government of Mexico City, Alstom, in charge of full electrification and rail control, and our Mexican partners ICA and CICSA for the civil engineering works,” said Cintia Angulo, president and CEO of Alstom in Mexico. “This collaboration benefits the ever-growing number of city commuters who opt for using in their day-to-day lives safer, more reliable and environmentally friendly means of transport."

Metro Line 12’s project — recognized as one of the major infrastructure project in the country's transport for years — was executed by Alstom and its Mexican partners ICA and Carso since 2008. Alstom, which has a strong historical presence in Mexico, was involved in building the city’s first underground rail network in 1967.

Today, with the completion of Line 12, Alstom confirms its contribution and commitment to the efficiency and security of urban transport systems in Mexico City.

Among the sites involved in the project are: Saint-Ouen and Villeurbanne in France, Rochester in the United States, Montréal in Canada, Bologna in Italy, Bangalore in India, and São Paulo in Brazil.